


Of Old Ends and New Beginnings

by Crystal_Rose_Witch



Series: The Little Things We Call Love. [2]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Declarations Of Love, F/M, Pre-Relationship, Sad with a Happy Ending, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, mention of sole survivor's husband
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:20:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21642082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crystal_Rose_Witch/pseuds/Crystal_Rose_Witch
Summary: Everyone has skeletons after the war and not all of them are in the closets. In the sole survivor's case, they are buried far underground. Sometimes it can take someone from the present to help finally move on from the past towards a better tomorrow.
Relationships: Female Sole Survivor/Nick Valentine
Series: The Little Things We Call Love. [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1487066
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

It wasn’t the first time he noticed Sylvie would disappear during the day. It would happen during the most mundane times of day when no one would be looking for her. She would take this path between two of the houses that wound up the hillside but where it led to he didn’t know.

Finally, curiosity got the better of him as he watched her make her way up the path yet again, “Okay doll…where are you headed?” Crushing his cigarette out on the sole of his shoe he waited for her to be a good distance up the path before giving chase, following her just back far enough that she wouldn’t know she was being tailed but that he could see where she went. She stopped eventually in front of a fence for a few minutes. Nick stalled back to see what she was doing, keeping a close eye on her while she knelt down and fiddled with something on the ground before she stood back up and continued on. Slowly he followed up behind her, pausing to look down at the skeletons around the fence she has stopped at before.

Nick wasn’t unnerved by the skeletons, they certainly were the first ones or the last ones he would ever see, but he did take care as to not step on them out of respect for the dead. The closer that he got to the top of the hill the more he noticed the land had been clear cut in a certain area. It wasn’t easy to notice from down in the settlement but she just stood there staring out over the settlement below before turning to walk over to a small cubical like building but stopped when she saw Nick standing a small distance away, “Nick?…” She sounded on the verge of tears but shook her head to fight back the tears, “You…followed me?…” Sylvie tried not to sound surprised but it easily found its way into her voice. Entering the small cubical she pressed down on something inside before exiting, “Well if you want to know where I keep going get over here on the elevator or get left behind,” A gentle smile played at her lips as he joined her on the platform, just enough distance between them to be comfortable, “over there, just past the power line tower…that was where the mushroom cloud went up the day the bomb fell…I had been looking right at it…” He looked to her just as the platform they were on started to descend into the ground; the feeling of her statement setting the mood for their venture into the vault.

Soon darkness surrounded them, the light from the surface looking like a pinprick above their heads. Anxiety prickled through every single sensor he had. Being in a place like Vault 114 was unnerving enough for him but this, this was something completely different. They were god knew how far underground now and that was something that could make him really uncomfortable. He never thought that he was claustrophobic but then again how many people were put in this situation being so far underground? “Nick…are you okay?” The feeling of her hand on his arm pulled him from his thoughts as he looked to her, seeing her face illuminated by the pip-boy on her wrist. She was so calm, at peace with what was going on around her that it couldn’t help but put him in a more calm state as well.

Upon hitting the bottom they waited in silence as the gate rose up to allow them exit from the elevator. It was quiet down there in the vault with the only sound being the dripping of water somewhere else in the facility. Nick swore in the silence that he was starting to become aware of even his own breathing. Sylvie though grabbed his arm and led him through the sliding doors of the vault with a self-awareness that he hadn’t seen before. The longer they were down there the more out of place he felt. This place felt sacred to her, people of her old life before the war and he was an outsider, something that didn’t belong down there yet he was if only to be a comfort to her.

Every step they took echoed through the rooms and corridors of the empty vault and it just resounded more inside his head which wasn’t any help as he wasn’t sure if the vault was actually that acoustic or if it was just him. Eventually, they came to an open doorway, one of the only ones in the vault. Inside were what he couldn’t only describe as containment pods but she seemed to be interested in one pod in particular, “Wait…is, is that?” Nick fell silent as the cold realization dawned on him, “I’m so sorry…” What else was he supposed to say? This was her dead husband, the man she had fallen in love and had a child with, but she just turned and smiled up at him, tears in the corners of her eyes but a smile on her face.

It had originally surprised her when Nick had followed her but now she realized that he was just concerned for her, “It’s okay Nick…I just…every now and then need to see him…to remember what I’m fighting for…but I’m not sad he’s gone…I’ve come to terms with it, besides,” She gripped his hand, lacing her fingers with his, “He always liked to know there was someone that could look out for me when he wasn’t there…” She glanced up to him, leaning against his arm, “Nick…I…” Sylvie tugged gently at her sleeve but she could see the sudden stun in his eyes. She knew what it sounded like she was going to say, what she wanted to say, but down here it might have sounded like she was rushing things a little, “I was thinking about taking Ellie up on her offer…and becoming your partner…” It wasn’t hard to miss the slight look of defeat in his eyes as he nodded, trying not to think that she had been about to tell him she loved him, “We’ve been at this so long together…we might as well be partners…we’re usually together and…” She couldn’t blame him if this sounded like a let down to him but she wasn’t expecting him to turn towards the door, “Valentine?”

It was moments like this that he would have wished he’s never had followed her down there but he had and now he was paying for it, “Did you want me to give you some time?” He gently palmed his fedora down a little further as he looked down towards the floor, a typical way for him to hide his emotions but it was the only way he knew how to cope. This was not hat he had been expecting but it took all he had to bite down those emotions he felt about it.

He had just been ready to start for the door when she tightened her grip on his hand, “We can leave, together…I just wanted to come to see him one last time to make sure I had fully moved on from him and could start trying for the affection of the man I have feelings for now,” The heavy feeling of dissatisfaction was replaced with the clawing little monster he was sure was jealousy. Who was it that she had feelings for? He wouldn’t do anything about it but he wanted to know so he knew if she was going to be taken care of, “Let’s blow this joint, then we can talk more.” A small smile tugged at his lips as she rephrased what he has said to her when they first met before he was being tugged towards the doorway to leave the cryogenic chamber room and ultimately the vault.


	2. Chapter 2

The ride back up to the surface felt shorter than it had going down but he still had to shield his eyes from the sudden flood of twilight as they reached the surface. Judging by the pink streaks across the sky and the darkening shadows Nick had to guess it was getting closed to night time still Sylvie walked over to the edge of the land they were on and sat down, feet hanging over the edge. Without a word being said Nick sat down beside her, gazing out over sanctuary as the warm glow of lanterns and candles illuminated the windows of the settlement below, “You want to who the guy is that I like, don’t you?” He wasn’t sure how to answer that. Yes, he wanted to know but he wasn’t going to press it. It was it her business who she liked, not his, “Just for fun…I wanna see if you can guess him from a description, okay?

All Nick could do was nod after thinking it over, “All right doll, let’s hear it…see if I can guess who it is…” That got her to smile as she started trying to describe the man she had feelings for. From what she was saying he could glean that the guy was tall, mysterious, a diamond in the rough as she said, and someone who didn’t get the kindness and respect he deserved. There were a few people he thought of right off the bat; Hancock was one of them but John wasn’t tall, so that ruled him out and the other was Danse. That thought made his nonexistent stomach sour, that she was in love with that tin can, “Sylvie…it’s not Danse…is it?” His voice sounded scared knowing what the man thought about him but she just laughed herself to tears.

Resting her head on his shoulder she tried to stifle her laughter, “What? You seriously got HIM, out of all the people we know, you got Danse out of that description?” The laughter was still evident in her voice though she spoke softly, “Guess again detective,” Sylvie turned to face him, hard blue eyes soft and sincere, “I was describing you, Nick. You…really don’t see yourself as any of that do you?” If he ever felt like a heel it was now. He had assumed that she was in love with the brotherhood paladin without so much as a second thought all because he saw himself as someone who was inadequate in terms of being a romantic partner.

He looked away out of embarrassment before glancing back to her when she rested her hand on top of his, “Well now I feel like a complete jerk…How long have you?” He made a vague gesture with his hand but she understood what he was asking about; how long had she had feelings for him. They sat there watching night fall over Sanctuary in silence before getting to their feet and heading down the path, away from the crypt of a vault and towards life as they knew it.

She reached over, lacing a few of her fingers with his as they walked, “I’ve had feelings for you for a while actually…I just didn’t say anything because I didn’t know how you would respond…” Sylvie wasn’t meaning to spin the blame back on to him but Nick could see where she was coming from. She had hinted at things but he had kept it as a professional relationship out of fear and self-loathing. Stopping in her tracks she looked down at her boots, scuffing the dirt a little, “I know people are going to think something is wrong with me but I don’t care…I love you more than anything that anyone can say again it,” She looked back up to him, smiling, “Yes, I said it, I love you Nick…but…I understand if you don’t want to…be together I mean…You seem to have reasons for keeping people at arm's length and I would rather not risk our friendship any more than I already have…” The normally unshakeable and hard fighting woman that he knew was starting to tear up slightly and he couldn’t help but feel it was all his fault.

Turning to face her Nick put his free hand to her shoulder, Doll, listen…to say people are going to think something is wrong with you is an understatement. You see how people treat me and though you stand up for and defend me pretty much every day…being together is going to be different from just what we’ve faced before…” He smiled softly, hoping to reassure her that it was going to be okay, “But if you’re serious about this then I would be willing to give it a chance. It’s been one hell of a ride so far, can’t wait to see where we end up next,” She smiled, releasing his hand to tightly hug him which he returned, gently combing his good hand through her hair, “I love you too Sylvie.” That was when she knew this was going to be okay.

Nick called her an assortment of nicknames and she was used to all of them, but he saved the use of her first name for when it was appropriate and to show sincerity. This was one of the times of using it to show her that he meant what he said, “Wanna head home now? Temperature’s dropping and I’m not exactly dressed for this,” She motioned to the vault suit before a shiver wracked her body, making the synth concerned for her well being as they started back down towards the settlement again. By the time they made it to her house the stars were fully visible in the inky black sky, “How much of a stink do you think Hancock with raise once he finds out it’s not him I’m interested in?” Nick smiled at the thought of how much of a pest the ghoul mayor of GoodNeighbor was going to be about this whole thing. It was no secret that John liked her, hell pretty much everyone she traveled with liked her and here he was, lucky enough to be the object of her affections.

Shaking his head the synth laughed, “One we will never hear the end of for a while I have a feeling…” He watched her get settled in her bed as he took a seat in the armchair, “Get some sleep doll, I’ll be waiting for you right here, okay?” Sylvie smiled again before stifling a yawn. It was just like when they would be on the road together; he would sit up and keep an eye on things while she slept, this was no different but there would be a lot for them to talk about in the morning. That was later though, for now, the detective was content to watch over her, keep her safe and hopefully, in the long run, they would be happy together, be it in a relationship or as just friends. The thought of that made him feel strange, knowing that someone, especially someone who he admired as much as her, would willingly want to be with him as more than just a business partner. It gave him a feeling that he didn’t think that he could ever feel; the warm, tingling, feeling that in memories he associated with genuine happiness. Nick smiled softly, maybe they would both be able to move on eventually and find happiness in each other. Only time would be able to tell.


End file.
